


To Light Up A Room

by bella_novella



Category: Room of Swords (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Platonic Relationships, cib's pov, early days in the room of swords, just some bonding between those three, the song is a bit romance-y but it's also very dance-y, there's dancing too!, this has been hidden in word for a while so here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bella_novella/pseuds/bella_novella
Summary: Ciboulette explores her new prison/home. There's dance parties, sometimes.
Relationships: Gyrus Axelei & Ciboulette & Don Santiago
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	To Light Up A Room

**Author's Note:**

> Brief warning for mentions of blood and stabbing. Nothing too violent, just usual Boss Sword mechanics.

It had been a week since Ciboulette's arrival in the Room of Swords. Since she was introduced to Don, a man claiming to be from the 1950s, and Gyrus, claiming to be an astronaut from the far, far future. If she had to be honest, the whole thing made her head spin. And that was without mentioning the magic medicine, having to stab herself to survive (and the fact that she had been crazy enough to trust Gyrus when he told her about it), the monsters and the magic swords, atop probably a thousand other weird things that slipped her mind.

Despite her confusion, Don and Gyrus had been very welcoming, even if they seemed just as lost as she was. Upon her arrival, Cib and Gyrus patched themselves up and the two men showed her around, apologising for the lack of... a lot, actually. They hadn't quite figured out how to set up comfortable beds, so for the moment they used whatever blankets or cloth they found lying around. They also hadn't figured out how to get warm water or any form of electricity for lights, despite there being some kind of power source running through the building. Though the greenhouse more than made up for it.

It was a bountifully beautiful room, filled to the brim with plants and fruit, gleaming tantalisingly. Even if the plants were a little weird, like the one that seemed to shake and sob if you got too close to it. Cib named her Lara and made an effort to visit whenever she was hungry. Lara still shook, but she seemed to warm up to people with every passing day. Or at least, she warmed up to Cib. Whenever Gyrus or Don approached, she began sobbing as loud as she could, screaming almost. The two of them made sure to never get too close, but always to say hello to her. She seemed to grow attached to them too, after a while.

More evident than the breathtaking plants or the big, blinking screen displaying the number of swords they had was the growing sense of boredom Cib began to feel with every passing day. At first, she was glad to be out of the realms and in a safe zone, but as the weeks went on she began to run out of ways to occupy herself. Gyrus had his drawings and his technology, Don had his guitar and his plants, but she didn't have any skills typically used for relaxing. She was a performer at heart, thoroughly enjoying taking centre stage and donning the costume of another for a while, waiting for the final lines, the thrill and pride as the audience stood and clapped and cheered, while she and her fellow actors took a bow and reared their heads to the beaming lights. She lived for the adrenaline of putting on a good show, something difficult to do when you had no script, nor cast, nor audience.

So she began investigating the other realm doorways, staying far away from the entrances but close enough to judge them, maybe give them names. Often they were stupid (see, "There's Some Frogs", "Kind Of Dusty", and "Beware: I Think I Saw A Gremlin With A Knife") and after a while she simply began naming them after Shakespeare plays, but it was something to do. However, she quickly managed to go through them all, leaving her back at square one. Back to mind-boggling boredom, as the three of them prepared themselves for another realm.

Or maybe they weren't preparing, Cib realised one day. Maybe they were stalling. Simply refusing to return to that timer, the voice, the blood and monsters. Cib was half-shocked when she realised she was glad for it. Waking up in that realm was one of the worst things she had ever experienced, enough to fuel her nightmares for a long time to come. She didn't want to go back. When she compared 'boredom' with 'sharp teeth and stab wounds and things that want to kill you', she decided boredom was the better option. Maybe not miles better, but it was certainly the lesser of two evils.

Cib had been in the Room of Swords for over a month now. No one had dared tackle another realm, or bring it up. No one mentioned the uncertainty in the air. No one wanted to suggest anything that could cause a rift in the group, even though they all clearly knew they were thinking it.

On nights like this one, when the room was lit only by Cib's stars floating idly above and silent aside from Gyrus scratching away at a notepad, Don tried to ease the tense quiet with music. Sometimes it was just humming, a quiet song that the other two didn't know but appreciated anyway. Other times, he would grab his guitar from the corner and begin strumming away, the others would tap their foot along or simply sit and enjoy silently. Music always eased tension, Cib found.

Tonight, he decided on a tune that had become familiar, retrieving his guitar and taking his usual place on a nearby crate, making sure the instrument was in tune. Then, he began.

_En el jardín de los cerezos, cortaste niña aquella flor,_  
_Las perfumaste con tus besos y tu candor_  
_Pero te fuiste de mi vera, y ya no se si volverás_  
_Flor de cerezo en primavera, ¿en donde estas?_

Gyrus raised his head, closing his notebook and moving it aside to enjoy. Cib smiled as she listened, tapping her fingers against the stone floor as she let the sounds wash everything away. Music flowed through the room, echoing off the walls and high ceiling to create a current of sorts. It seemed to surround them in a bright, smiling air, shielding them briefly from the worries hanging above their heads.

Cib rose to her feet, swaying in rhythm as she made her way to where Gyrus was sat. He looked up at her in confusion as she grinned down. 

"Care to dance?" she offered him her hand theatrically. Gyrus's brain took a moment to catch up, before he grinned and accepted her hand.

"Why not?"

She pulled him to his feet, practically dragging him to the centre of the room. Cib let go and began moving to the music, adjusting her hat when she jumped and it fell over her eyes. Gyrus, in turn, stood awkwardly for a moment before he began moving his arms stiffly and shuffling his feet. Cib felt a wide smile pull at her mouth, and she began laughing for the first time in a long while. She heard Don chuckling from the sidelines.

_Aquella tarde probé de las cerezos la miel_  
_En la quietud del jardín de los cerezos en flor_  
_Y prometiste volver a mi florido vergel,_  
_Cerezo rosa, sin ti no quiero amor._

Once she had finished laughing at Gyrus's failed dancing attempts, she reached out her hands and grabbed his.

"Here, before you break something," she grinned.

"What would I break by dancing?" Gyrus questioned. Cib snorted.

"Dancing like that? Probably me, if you make me laugh any more."

"Ha, ha," Gyrus said sarcastically, "So how... -"

He let out a short cry of shock as Cib began spinning the two of them around, leaning into the momentum and skipping along gleefully. Gyrus took a moment to get his bearings, thankfully staying upright and eventually laughing along with her. The music surrounded them, the multicoloured stars lit up their eyes and faces with colourful hues, and the three of them enjoyed a few peaceful minutes before the weight of their situation inevitably came falling back down. But for now, they could breathe.

_Así esperando tu regreso, hice un altar de nuestro amor,_  
_En el jardín de los cerezos en plena flor_  
_No, no, no podré olvidarte ni dejar de amarte siempre niña, no_  
_No, ve que tu partida es herida que jamás podré curar_

_Aquella tarde probé, de las cerezos la miel_  
_En la quietud del jardín, de los cerezos en flor_  
_Y prometiste volver, a mi florido vergel,_  
_Cerezo rosa, sin ti no quiero amor_

Between the dancing and the music, listening to Gyrus's unsteady laughter as he tried not to tumble and fall, and Don's magnificent voice as he sang, filling the room with all the missing positivity and hope, Cib had a thought. Maybe she could learn to love this. Maybe she could grow and adapt, learn to live with all the moments spent here, good and bad. It went unspoken that they all wanted to go home, but until then this was what they had. And maybe that wasn't always a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of used Don's time travelling to explain how he knows a song from 2016, but i think Cib is from somewhere before the 2010s and i doubt Gyrus has much knowledge of songs from 500 years ago, so it's fine.
> 
> The song was 'Cerezo Rosa' by Carlos Cuevas.
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
